Monday, 15 August 2016

Arrow Video - November releases

You’ll think Christmas has come early this November with a raft of cult-tastic titles coming to Blu-ray, DVD and Dual Format courtesy of Arrow Video.

THE INITIATION - DUAL FORMAT

Marking TV star Daphne Zuniga’s debut in a leading role, The Initiation ranks amongst the finest of the college-based stalk-and-slash flicks – now finally restored in glorious High-Definition!

Kelly’s new sorority has a special initiation ritual in store for her – an after-hours break-in of her father’s department store. But what begins as a night of harmless college fun turns sour when, once inside the enormous mall, Kelly and her fellow pledges find themselves locked in for the night… with a deadly intruder stalking the corridors.

Arriving in 1984, The Initiation might have been late to the slasher party, but, alongside the likes of The House on Sorority Row and The Mutilator, it remains one of the stronger entries to emerge in the latter days of the slice-and-dice boom.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTSBrand new restoration from original film elementsHigh Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentationOriginal Uncompressed Mono PCM audioOptional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearingBrand new audio commentary by The Hysteria ContinuesBrand new interview with actor Christopher BradleyBrand new interview with actress Joy JonesOriginal Theatrical TrailerReversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Justin Osbourn

First pressing only: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic James Oliver

How do you follow up a film as iconic as Joe Dante’s seminal werewolf epic The Howling? With a star turn from horror legend Christopher Lee and a leather-clad Sybil Danning (The Red Queen Kills Seven Times), Howling II is more than up to the challenge!

After a young woman dies in violent circumstances, her brother is approached by a stranger (Lee) who reveals that she was in fact a werewolf. The brother’s initial scepticism is quickly diffused when he encounters the fanged beasts first-hand. Now the pair, joined by a plucky journalist, must travel to Transylvania to destroy werewolf queen Stirba (Danning), and rid the world of lycanthropes once and for all.

In the seventies William Friedkin made The French Connection, The Exorcist and Sorcerer. In the eighties he equalled them with To Live and Die in L.A., one of the most stylish thrillers the decade had to offer.

When his partner is murdered just days before retirement, Secret Service Agent Richard Chance (William Petersen - Manhunter) begins an obsessive hunt for his killer – counterfeiter and all-round psychopath Eric Masters, played by Willem Dafoe at his villainous prime.

Beautifully shot by Robby Muller (Repo Man, Paris, Texas) and with a driving score with British new wave act Wang Chung, To Live and Die in L.A. looks and sounds exceptional in this brand-new 4K restoration from the original 35mm negative.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTSBrand new 4K restoration from the original 35mm negative supervised and approved by director William FriedkinHigh Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentationsOriginal Uncompressed Mono PCM audioOptional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearingAudio commentary by director and co-writer William FriedkinCounterfeit World: The Making of To Live and Die in L.A. archive featurette containing interviews with Friedkin, actors William Petersen and Willem Dafoe, and othersAlternative endingDeleted sceneStills galleryTrailersMORE SPECIAL FEATURES TO BE ANNOUNCED!Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil

First pressing only: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Anne Billson

In career that has encompassed such controversial classics as Ms. 45, Bad Lieutenant and Welcome to New York, none of Abel Ferrara’s films have quite managed to match the shock, extremity and downright notorious nature of The Driller Killer.

Ferrara plays struggling artist Reno, a man pushed to the edge by the economic realities of New York living in the late seventies and the No Wave band practising in the apartment below. His grip on reality soon begins to slip and he takes to stalking the streets with his power tool in search of prey…

One of the most infamous ‘video nasties’, in part thanks to its drill-in-head sleeve, The Driller Killer has lost none of its power to unnerve, and is presented here fully uncut. Available in a special edition Dual Format release and a Limited Edition Dual Format Steelbook.

Special Features:

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTSBrand new restoration from original film elementsHigh Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentationsOriginal Uncompressed Mono PCM audioOptional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearingAudio commentary by director and star Abel Ferrara, moderated by Brad Stevens (author of Abel Ferrara: The Moral Vision) and recorded exclusively for this releaseBrand new interview with FerraraWilling and Abel: Ferraraology 101, a new visual essay guide to the films and career of Ferrara by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, author of Cultographies: Ms. 45Mulberry St. (2010), Ferrara’s feature-length documentary portrait of the New York location that has played a key role in his life and work, available on home video in the UK for the first time everTrailerReversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

Limited Edition SteelBook featuring original artwork (2500 copies)Brand new restoration from original film elementsHigh Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentationsOriginal Uncompressed Mono PCM audioOptional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearingAudio
commentary by director and star Abel Ferrara, moderated by Brad Stevens
(author of Abel Ferrara: The Moral Vision) and recorded exclusively for
this releaseBrand new interview with FerraraWilling and Abel:
Ferraraology 101, a new visual essay guide to the films and career of
Ferrara by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, author of Cultographies: Ms. 45Mulberry
St. (2010), Ferrara’s feature-length documentary portrait of the New
York location that has played a key role in his life and work, available
on home video in the UK for the first time everTrailer